Sky-high cost of housing preventing a quarter of 24-39 year olds from starting a family

The sky-high cost of housing is preventing nearly a quarter of 24-39 year olds from starting a family, new research shows.

As a home of their own becomes a distant dream for many, figures from Shelter and YouGov show prospective parents across the UK are putting off having children because housing is so expensive, with 57% of them waiting for up to five years to start a family.

The survey also revealed that 16% of people know someone who has moved in with a partner quicker than they would have liked to in the past year, because they couldn’t afford to live alone.

And a shocking 1 in 10 people surveyed admitted that they would like to leave their partner, but haven’t because they couldn’t afford another place to live.

With the election looming, Shelter is calling on politicians of all parties to commit to building more affordable homes, so that young people have the chance to start a family in a safe and stable home.

Christina and her husband were forced to move into her parent’s house only a year after getting married, due to the high cost of housing. The pair are now considering a house share with another couple, with no plans for a family on the horizon.

Christina said: ‘Despite the fact that we both have reasonably well-paid jobs, we’re stuck with a choice between living with my parents or sharing with others in expensive rentals.

‘In our situation the idea of having children seems little more than a pipe dream. It feels almost laughable that we’ll ever own our own family home.’

Shelter’s Chief Executive, Campbell Robb said: ‘More and more young people are working hard and saving what they can, but still finding themselves unable to afford a stable home to raise a family. Instead they face a lifetime of expensive renting and insecurity, unable to put down roots.

‘The only way to give back hope to the priced out generation is for politicians to make a real and lasting commitment to building the affordable homes we desperately need.’

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